Metal Fire

The small band of twelve ponies all lived in the Tardis. They were a team. SaberStar and LunarSun were the warriors and strategists, Adamant Shadow and Twilight were the scientists, Applejack and Derpy were the cooks, Fluttershy and Rainbow were the recon and got food, Vinyl and the Doctor were the engineers, and Rarity and Pinkie were the entertainment. They all had separate bedrooms except for Saber. He slept on the stem that spread from the floor. Saber had put up a bedroll and usually slept alone. Some nights, Dash kept him company. One night, they were talking quietly so they didn't wake the others, when she sat next to him and kissed him. He put his wing around her and kissed her on the cheek. Dash leaned on his shoulder and Saber pulled her closer. She yawned and blinked tiredly.

"You should get some sleep," He suggested, "Why don't you go to bed? I'll keep watch tonight." she shook her head.

"I'll stay with you until you fall asleep." she replied sleepily, "I'll be fine." she closed her eyes and sighed. His eyes glowed pink and he put a blanket over her. She moved the blanket until they were both under it. Saber smiled at her. He kissed her on the cheek and before he knew it, he was asleep.

The two were woken the next morning by Adamant.

"Wake up lovebirds. It's morning. Time to get up." He said, trying not to snigger.

"Adamant," Saber grumbled, "Don't call us 'lovebirds' or I'll smack you off the edge."

"Fine, fine," he replied, trying harder not to laugh, "But the rest are a bit worried." Saber and Rainbow flew down and then Adamant down to the floor where the Applejack and Derpy were cooking what looked like muffins. Derpy turned around and saw the two.

"Oh hi Rainbow! We were looking for you. You weren't in bed this morning." The gray mare said, focusing on her cooking. She was wearing an apron and had one eye closed.

"I was with this bighead right here." Dash replied, smiling. She playfully punched Saber in the shoulder.

"Nothing naughty I hope." Derpy joked. Saber's eyes turned cherry red and his ears and cheeks blushed. He pawed the ground, embarrassed. His eyes faded as he realized she was joking, but his cheeks and ears still blushed.

"No, nothing naughty," Rainbow replied, "Just sleeping." she turned to Saber, frowning. "You snore by the way."

"I do?" he asked, surprised. "Well, I'll keep that in mind. Meanwhile, Adamant, what's the status?"

"Celestia is still holding Canterlot in an iron hoof. We have good news though. a) The rest of Ponyville, Cloudsdale, Trottingham, Manehattan, Saddle Arabia, and all the detectable cities have moved into the Crystal Empire. Bit crowded but still. b) Princess Luna escaped Celestia's insanity and has now formed a resistance known as the Night Hunters. We're going to be meeting up with them but we don't quite trust them. The Doctor gave us teleportation devices so we can escape if need be." Adamant replied, sipping coffee.

"Good," Saber said, "Let's hope we can trust them."

"Any info on why Celestia did this?" Applejack called from her baking,

"Nothing. Although she looks, I don't know, gray? Maybe she became discorded? All the slaves looked like that." Dash replied. Vinyl walked out from her from her room.

"What was that sound last night?" She asked tiredly, "It was like snoring." she turned to Saber. "Was it you?" Vinyl asked.

"Yes it was." Rainbow answered, "He snored all night."

"How did you know?" Vinyl asked,

"I was with him last night." she replied grinning.

"Lovebirds." Adamant coughed.

"Adamant...." Saber warned.

"OOOOOOOOOOOOO-" Vinyl started,

"Don't you dare." Saber grumbled. He shoved her away. LunarSun, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and the Doctor all walked out, manes messed up and tousled. Applejack started singing the song that foals used to sing to their friends to tease them about crushes.

"Saber and Vinyl sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-"

"That's enough!" Saber exclaimed, "Just because me and Dash spent one night together, just sleeping doesn't mean we're getting married or anything. And why just us? There are other couples on board." everypony snickered. Saber rolled his eyes. He walked away. "Such immature ponies sometimes." Saber grumbled. Saber sighed and checked the cameras installed outside the Tardis. As always, a warrior was slamming against the doors with a spear. The daily guards that Celestia sent every day never got in. Never made a dent. After about half an hour, he heard Applejack yelling,

"Soup's on everypony!" Saber got down from the controls and walked towards the kitchen. The smell of coffee and muffins filled the air. He reached in to the fridge and pulled out a jug of orange juice with his wing and opened it. Saber was a bit old-fashioned, always having OJ with his breakfast but he wasn't a big fan of coffee. He took a chocolate muffin with his other wing and set them next Dash's seat. Saber took a bite of the muffin. Derpy made really good muffins. He pecked Rainbow on the cheek and sat down.

"So," Saber said, "It appears that Luna has built a rebellion against Celestia. I don't know if we can trust them, but we need three people to meet them. One person best suited to be the leader, one recon and one scientist. We need to choose who should do what. I think a voting system is the best option." all of them agreed. "Who should be the leader?" he asked. All who had been in battle or had seen Saber fight pointed at him. "Uh, me really? I'm a soldier, not a leader." everypony nodded. He sighed. "'Kay, I guess I'm the leader. Who's the engineer?" They all pointed to Rainbow. "Okay Dash, you're the recon. Who's the scientist?" They all pointed to Adamant. "Adamant, you're the scientist."

"What time do they get here?" Lunar asked, a guarded expression on his face.

"We don't exactly know," Saber replied, "Maybe at 1800 hours tomorrow. That's the closest we could figure out. The message we got was in code. The Doctor managed to break most of it with his sonic.........probe."

"That's sonic screwdriver!"

"Whatever. The time had some sort of spell on it. We think Celestia may have tried to intercept it, but she only hit the time with her magic. If she really became discorded, Discord was behind this." then, "I swear I'm going to decapitate the little trickster again when I see him next." he growled.

"I don't think it'll be just you," Lunar replied, "He discorded my brother, SolarMoon. Nearly killed by my own brother."

"Then you and I can both decapitate him." Saber said, grinning a bit, "But we have other priorities. Twilight, can this be reversed?"

"Yes, but that's almost all of Canterlot," Twilight replied, "If Luna is on our side, I'll need her help to reverse it."

"Well that's good. Most cities have been evacuated to the Crystal Empire, so no more discorded ponies running around. First Changelings, then Celestia and Discord? I've had enough of this. I just want peace." Saber explained, "We need to stop a war and a tyranny. Anything else Equestria needs from us?"

"Anymore guards banging on the doors this morning?" the Doctor asked,

"Yeah, they're just keeping it up every morning. Never giving up. Celestia must really want us." Dash replied. She leaned into Saber's shoulder and he put his wing around her.

"Loveb-" Adamant was about to say,

"Oh shut up!" Saber grumbled, shoving Adamant out of his seat. He fell and stood back up, getting in his seat.

"Awe, you four make such great couples." the Doctor joked. Saber smacked his forehead with his hoof.

"Ugh." He said, "Well, it's been nice sharing info, but we need to get ready for tomorrow. They're going to meet us near the Tree of Harmony." an knock sounded on the door of the Tardis.

"I'll check out who it is." the Doctor said. He was about to trot off to the doors but Saber stopped him,

"Let me come with you. No offense Doctor, you're not a fighter." Saber replied.

"Alright, come on then." the Doctor sighed. They walked towards the doors of the Tardis. Saber opened one. There stood the Princess of the Moon. The rebellion had come. Saber and the Doctor kneeled.

"Please," Luna said, "do not kneel. I am no longer Princess anymore. Just Commander."

"Commander Luna, please, come in. The others are eating in the kitchen." Saber replied. First, Luna scanned him to make sure he wasn't a Changeling, as she did with the Doctor. She then followed the two to the kitchen. Luna scanned all of them and then she relaxed.

"Uh, Princess Luna, do you want something to eat? We have muffins and coffee." Derpy asked, presenting a cookie sheet with all kinds of muffins on it.

"Just Luna is fine, and yes I will have a muffin." Luna replied,

"What kind of muffin would you like?"

"Blueberry please."

"Any coffee with that?"

"Yes please." Derpy handed Luna a mug of steaming coffee. Luna blew on it to cool it down and then took a sip. "So, who speaks for all of you? Or do you speak for yourselves?" she asked,

"We speak for ourselves, but when we need a leader, our leader is SaberStar." Rainbow replied, kissing Saber on the cheek. He put his wing around her.

"Do you have any idea why the hell your sister did this?" Saber asked, sipping his orange juice,

"She became discorded from what I can gather. My own sister, a tyrant. I can't believe this." Luna replied.

"We'll set everything back to normal Luna, I promise." Saber said.